LONDON: Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’’s crown prince, on Friday defended China’s use of concentration camps for Muslims, saying it was Beijing’s “right”, reports a British newspaper citing the Chinese state television.
"China has the right to carry out anti-terrorism and de-extremisation work for its national security,” Prince Mohammed, who has been in China signing multi-million trade deals much to the annoyance of his Western allies, was quoted as saying on the state TV. Xi Jinping, China’s leader, told the crown prince the two countries must strengthen international cooperation on de-radicalisation to “prevent the infiltration and spread of extremist thinking”.
China has detained an estimated one million Uighur Muslims in concentration camps, where they are undergoing re-education programmes allegedly intended to combat extremism.
The Uighur are an ethnic Turkic Muslim group and lives in Western China and parts of Central Asia. Beijing has accused the minority in its Western Xinjiang region of supporting terrorism and implemented a surveillance regime.
Uighur groups had appealed to Saudi’s powerful young prince to take up their cause as the kingdom has traditionally been a defender of the rights of Muslims worldwide. But Muslim leaders have so far not broached the issue with China, which has in recent years become an important trading partner with the Middle East. Hami Aksoy, a spokesperson for Turkey's Foreign Office, however described China's treatment of its Uighur population as "a great cause of shame for humanity" last month and asked it to close the "concentration camps". President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had once accused China of "genocide" but has since established closer diplomatic and economic relations with Beijing.
Imran Khan, prime minister of Pakistan, where Prince Salman has just visited, said he “did not know” much about the conditions of the Uighurs.
Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri took up Sher Afzal bail plea for hearing
CCP’s announcement made, stating that applicants are required to pay money upfront in order to enroll
According to details, the police took a van filled with female students of medical college to a police station on...
In this image, the logo of the Nowshera Press Club can be seen. — Facebook/Nowshera Press Club/FileNOWSHERA: The...
Senator Sherry Rehman said the PPP had previously extended an offer to the PTI to form a government, but the PTI is...
A division bench comprising Justice Shakeel Ahmad and Justice Dr Khurshid Iqbal heard the petition filed by the KP...